Letters to the Editor for Nov. 29, 2012

Thursday

Nov 29, 2012 at 12:01 AM

Sun readers share their thoughts on the Electoral College, the U.S. and the Gaza Strip, tax deductions for charitable contributions, and more.

Did my vote count?Many of us are wondering if our votes in the recent election counted.In any election the majority of votes should be the deciding factor, not the outdated and antiquated Electoral College, which needs to be discarded.When a winner is announced (having procured the Electoral College's required number) and people are still voting, does this essentially disregard or just ignore those later votes?The majority vote seems a fairer way to be sure that all votes count. The process can surely be streamlined in this day and age so that no one feel they wasted their time or their vote.Jeane Stahmann,Gainesville

So leave alreadyIn late 1860 Robert Barnwell Rhett authored the first draft of the South Carolina Ordinance of Secession at the Milton Maxey House in Beaufort, S.C. The house was named for its first owner, Milton Maxey, a yankee lawyer. A year later the house was a Union hospital. Irony abounds.Fast forward. Now, here are those who, because their extremist demands are not being met, advocate states seceding from the Union. These people are of the same persuasion as those who opposed the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s. Their mantra was: America, Love It or Leave It! It would be much easier on them to follow their own advice, than try Rhett's folly.S.P. Brewer,Lake Butler

How the U.S. can help resolve Gaza's woesOver 110 Palestinians have been killed as a result of the Israeli attack on Gaza, and the majority of these are civilians.Israeli leaders claim that the attack is a response to rocket fire from Gaza, and that “Israel has a right to defend itself.” But the border between Israel and Gaza had been quiet for a long time until an Israeli incursion in Gaza on Nov. 8, in which a 12-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by Israeli soldiers.The best way to resolve the hostility between Israel and the Palestinians is for Israel to not only stop building settlements in occupied Palestinian lands but to withdraw to the internationally recognized 1967 lines.The best way for the U.S. to encourage Israel to do this is to cut off the $3 billion in annual aid to Israel until Israel withdraws from occupied Palestinian land. Elizabeth Stuhlberg,Gainesville

Who pays for my charity deducations?Assuming I am in the 15 percent tax bracket and I can itemize deductions, what happens if I make a $1,000 deductible donation to a qualified organization?I shield that $1,000 from income tax, and not just for me; the recipient doesn't pay taxes on it, either.I get an extra $150 dollars when I get my tax refund, so I'm only out $850. The recipient has the full $1,000 I donated, so where does the remaining $150 come from?Since the government is running a deficit, that $150 is effectively borrowed and winds up being part of the national debt! So why exactly do we have itemized deductions for charitable contributions? Is the tax rate percentage really that much of an incentive? Is having the next generation pay for that incentive, plus interest, really worth it? Russ Nekorchuk,Gainesville

Weary of extremistsThank you Grace Chlastawa for your letter of Nov. 18, “Obama, supporters must hate America.” Your letter enlightened, in ways that I could not, why many Americans supported President Obama in the last election. We are weary of extremists and conspiracy theorists highjacking our country and political system. When did we have to seriously start listening to fanatics, so clouded by hate and fear that they can no longer see truth?Americans have spoken. We are moving on. Let all rational and just people begin the hard work of repairing our democracy and our relationships with one another. Jan Gibson,Archer